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Queen of the Clouds

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Untitled

Queen of the Clouds is the debut studio album by Swedish recording artist Tove Lo, released by Universal Music Group through Island Records on 24 September 2014. Queen of the Clouds was preceded by the release of two singles, "Habits (Stay High)" and "Not on Drugs" which were previous released on her first extended play, Truth Serum. Lo worked with many writers and producers such as The Struts, Klas Åhlund, Alexander Kronlund, Alx Reuterskiöld, and Captain Cuts. Lyrically, the album's themes center around the stages of a relationship; including passion, love, and break-ups.

Background and development

Queen of the Clouds is the follow up to Lo's debut extended play, Truth Serum. The album is divided into three sections: "The Sex", "The Love" and "The Pain". Similar to theme of a poisoned relationship in Truth Serum, the album centers around a breakup and provides a complete story of her romantic struggles. She described her music as like a therapist where she could sing about things she would not normally dare to speak about.[3] The title for the album came from her song "Not on Drugs" and describes her new lifestyle touring the world after the success of her first EP. Lo said that it represented the feeling of "floating on top of the world" and that it was important that the album title represented her.[4]

Release and promotion

Lo announced the release of Queen of the Clouds in an interview with Rolling Stone on 19 August 2014.[5] Shortly after, on 9 September 2014, the album was made available to pre-order online through iTunes.[6] On 16 September 2014, the album tracks "Moments", "Timebomb" and "Thousand Miles" were also made available to download alongside the iTunes pre-order.[7] On 24 September 2014, Lo performed "Habits" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her album.[8]

Singles

The lead single, "Habits (Stay High)", was originally released as "Habits" on 25 March 2013 prior to the release of Truth Serum in March 2014. It was later re-released as "Habits (Stay High)" on 6 December 2013. "Habits (Stay High)" peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2014.[9] A remix of "Habits" by record production duo Hippie Sabotage, alternatively titled "Stay High", was released on 3 March 2014 and peaked at number 13 on the Swedish Singles Chart.[10] It performed even more successfully elsewhere, peaking within the top 10 of the charts in Norway, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. The second single was revealed to be "Not on Drugs". A lyric video of the song premiered in June 2014[11] and its music video premiered in August of the same year.[12]

Commercial performance

In Lo's native Sweden, Queen of the Clouds debuted at number 6 on the Sverigetopplistan charts. In the United States, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 14 with first-week sales of 19,000 copies.[13] The album also achieved top 50 placements on the national charts in Australia, New Zealand, and Norway.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
andPOP[14]
Idolator3.5/5[15]
Music Is My Oxygen[16]
Pitchfork7.2/10[17]
PressPLAY4/5[18]

Upon release, Queen of the Clouds received generally positive reviews from music critics. Sam Lansky from TIME praised the lyrical content of the album, stating that "the tracks all have a satisfying stomp and crash, but it’s her lyrics that shine brightest, trading in pop clichés but flipping them in the same breath." He described the hooks of the tracks as commercial enough to give Lo a "fighting chance at stateside stardom".[19] Carrie Battan from Pitchfork gave the album a 7.2 out of 10 and described her music as "bruised, brightly arranged pop songs that feel grand but not excessive". He also noted that her "disarming honesty" and "well-phrased lyrics" are what sticks to the brain.[17] Evan Ross from andPOP gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars described Queen of the Clouds as "a really enjoyable album that pretty accurately describes what it’s like to be young and in love" and particularly liked that the album was an entire concept instead of randomly thrown in tracks. He praised the production and enjoyable filler songs. He also noted that Lo's "EDM-inspired album" had more substance than other similar albums.[14] Jon O'Brien from Music Is My Oxygen gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and praised Lo's standing out from the crowd, describing her album as a "refreshingly raw debut which casts Tove Lo as pop’s premier hot mess".[16] Kathy Iandoli from Idolator gave the album 3.5 out of 5 and praised the honesty of the lyrics and noted that Lo "has become masterfully adept at jamming thoughtful words into dancey songs through her past songwriting, but she takes it a step further with Queen Of The Clouds".[15] A reviewer from PressPLAY gave the album a 4 out of 5 and praised the album's lyrical content and that Lo "goes into the dark places that modern pop tends to avoid", although they also wrote that there was a "slight need for variety and a tighter edit of the tracklist". The critic also described Lo as having a "frantic, drunken energy [...] that keeps you hooked on her songs unlike any of her peers"[18]

Track listing

Queen of the Clouds — Standard edition[20]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Sex" (Intro)Tove Nilsson 0:06
2."My Gun"
  • Nilsson
  • Daniel Ledinsky
  • Jakob Jerlström
  • Ludvig Söderberg
The Struts3:36
3."Like Em Young"
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
The Struts3:39
4."Talking Body"
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
The Struts3:58
5."Timebomb"
Åhlund3:34
6."The Love" (Interlude)Nilsson 0:05
7."Moments"NilssonMattman and Robin3:22
8."The Way That I Am"
  • Nilsson
  • Ali Payami
Payami3:07
9."Got Love"
  • Nilsson
  • Alx Reuterskiöld
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
  • The Struts
  • Reuterskiöld
3:48
10."Not on Drugs"
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
  • Reuterskiöld
  • The Struts
  • Reuterskiöld
3:02
11."The Pain" (Interlude)Nilsson 0:05
12."Thousand Miles"
  • Nilsson
  • Michael Orabiyi
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
  • The Struts
  • Mike 'Scribz' Riley
3:34
13."Habits (Stay High)"
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
The Struts3:29
14."This Time Around"
  • Nilsson
  • Nate Campany
  • Kyle Shearer
Shearer4:04
15."Run on Love" (QOTC Edit)
  • Nilsson
  • Lucas Nordqvist
Lucas Nord4:00
Total length:43:29
Queen of the Clouds — Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)[20]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
16."Love Ballad"
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
The Struts3:30
17."Habits (Stay High)" (Hippie Sabotage Remix)
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
  • The Struts
  • Hippie Sabotage (remixing)
4:18
Total length:51:17
Queen of the Clouds — US deluxe edition (bonus tracks)[21]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
18."Crave"
  • Nilsson
  • Ryan Rabin
  • Ryan McMahon
  • Ben Berger
  • Captain Cuts
3:30
19."Not on Drugs" (Ali Payami remix)
  • Nilsson
  • Jerlström
  • Söderberg
  • Reuterskiöld
  • The Struts
  • Reuterskiöld
  • Payami (remixing)
2:51
Total length:57:38

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 47
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 35
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24] 38
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 6
US Billboard 200[26] 14

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Australia[27] 24 September 2014 CD, digital download Universal Music Group
Norway[28]
Sweden[20]
Canada[29] 30 September 2014
United States[21]

References

  1. ^ Tove Lo - Queen of the Clouds - Allmusic
  2. ^ http://www.josepvinaixa.com/blog/tove-lo-confirmed-talking-body-as-next-single/
  3. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (22 September 2014). "Tove Lo Falls Into Fame: On 'Habits,' Opening for Katy Perry & Using Music as Therapy". Billboard. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  4. ^ Florino, Rick (11 September 2014). "Interview: Tove Lo". Artistdirect. Rogue Digital. Retrieved 2 October 2014. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  5. ^ Murray, Nick (19 August 2014). "Watch Tove Lo's Explosive 'Not on Drugs' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  6. ^ "BABES! I can't wait to share my FIRST EVER album with you. Make me the happiest #QueenOfTheClouds and pre-order it on iTunes NOW!!!". Facebook. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. ^ "'MOMENTS' and 'TIMEBOMB' are available nooow!!! Hope you love them, I'm counting down the days till #QueenOfTheClouds... Thanks Vogue and Idolator for premiering". Facebook. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Tove Lo Performs "Habits"". YouTube. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Tove Lo Album & Song Chart History". Billboard Hot 100. Retrieved 2 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tove Lo feat. Hippie Sabotage – Stay High". Singles Top 60. Retrieved 2 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ "Tove Lo - Not On Drugs (Lyric Video)". YouTube. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  12. ^ "Tove Lo - Not On Drugs". YouTube. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  13. ^ Trust, Gary (8 October 2014). "Meghan Trainor Leads Hot 100's Record-Setting All-Female Top Five". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  14. ^ a b Ross, Evan (30 September 2014). "Track by Track Review: Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo". andPOP. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b Iandoli, Kathy (30 September 2014). "Tove Lo's 'Queen Of The Clouds': Album Review". Idolator. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  16. ^ a b O'Brien, Jon (30 September 2014). "Tove Lo "Queen of the Clouds" – Album Review". Music Is My Oxygen. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  17. ^ a b Battan, Carrie (30 September 2014). "Tove Lo: Queen of the Clouds". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  18. ^ a b "REVIEW: Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds". PressPLAY. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  19. ^ Lansky, Sam (12 September 2014). "Review: Tove Lo Is Far From Sunny on Queen of the Clouds". TIME. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  20. ^ a b c "Queen of the Clouds av Tove Lo". iTunes Store (SE). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  23. ^ "Charts.nz – Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  24. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  25. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  26. ^ "Tove Lo Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo". iTunes Store (AU). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  28. ^ "Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo". iTunes Store (NO). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  29. ^ "Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo". iTunes Store (CA). Apple Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
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